Parliament welcomes the Western Cape High Court judgement dismissing with costs the Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF) application to have the conduct of Parliament during the 2015 and 2017 State of the Nation Address (SONA) declared unconstitutional.
The application was based on the order by the Presiding Officers (Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces) for certainEFF members to be ejected from the House following their continuous disruptions through spurious points of order.
The EFF sought an order declaring that Parliament acted unconstitutionally by ordering the EFF members to be ejected, as this allegedly resulted in the Parliamentary Protection Services using unreasonable force, violence and aggression when removing members from the House.Consequently, the EFF also sought constitutional damages, contingent upon the granting of the declaratory order sought.
In the application, the EFF contended that the Presiding Officers used their powers to frustrate Members of Parliament who were genuinely exercising their right to freedom of speech and fulfilling their obligations in terms of the Constitution and the law. Parliament refuted these allegationsstating that the EFF members, like any other Members of Parliament, enjoy the equal right to freedom of expression, and that it was undemocratic for the EFF members to act in a manner which contravened the parliamentary rules by deliberately attempting to collapse SONA.
In its judgement, the court noted that ejecting the EFF members was done as a last resort and was necessary to ensure that the programme of the day continued without unnecessary interruptions. The court further found no evidence that any gratuitous violence was used in ejecting the EFF members, or that their constitutional rights were violated in any way.
Parliament remains committed to protecting and enabling the institution to perform its constitutional obligations diligently and without undue interference. The House will continue to perform its functions with respect for the decorum required by the Constitution and its Rules and will do so in the best interest of the people of South Africa.
